Davies hoping cup triumph will boost crowds

Leeds Tykes director of rugby Phil Davies hopes that the Powergen Cup final triumph over Bath will have captured the imagination of the Yorkshire public.

The Tykes magnificent backs-to-the-wall performance against their more illustrious opponents was played out in front of a crowd of over 60,000 - an estimated 15,000 of them backing Leeds.

Leeds now embark on trying to secure their Zurich Premiership status - starting with Harlequins at Headingley a week on Tuesday.

Davies hopes to see the same level of support in their remaining games.

"It's fantastic that we captured the imagination of so many people today and I'd love to see them all back at Headingley," Davies said. "It's really pleasing that so many people could come down and see us winning.

"There were so many people here from Yorkshire today which was fantastic. It was a great day for Yorkshire. Hopefully the people back home can be proud of us.

"If we can get consistency then we will get the following and financial stability as well.

'Hopefully we'll have captured the hearts of a lot of people'

"To win, hopefully we'll have captured the hearts of a lot of people - particularly in the second half with the defence which was magnificent."

For the third match running Leeds looked anything but a team fighting for their Premiership lives.

Davies was sure that the league wins over Bath and Leicester gave his side the belief they needed going into the final.

"Leicester and Gloucester gave us confidence and hopefully we can take that confidence into the last couple of games because it would be a shame to let this Heineken Cup go to waste," Davies said.

"We've got it all to do now to get the results. We're in good form and everyone will be buoyed and galvanised from today's result."

Davies was particularly pleased to have taken the scalp of Bath in the Twickenham final - a side who had never lost a cup final in 10 previous outings.

"We've played one of the giants of English rugby today and come out at the right end, so great credit to the players, to the staff and to the supporters," Davies said.

The Tykes boss did not appear unduly worried by the injury suffered to captain Iain Balshaw, who was forced off the field after just four minutes with a thigh injury.

Davies is hopeful of Balshaw being available to face Quins.

"He'll be fine. We'll get him scanned tomorrow and then hopefully he'll be ready for Quins," Davies said.

Ross tributes

Balshaw himself revealed that he had felt the injury during the week leading up to the match but felt he could get through the 80 minutes.

"I'll know more when I've had the scan, but hopefully I'll be OK for the Quins game," Balshaw said.

Davies paid tribute to the performance of man of the match Gordon Ross. The Scottish international fly-half scored 10 points with the boot and was a pivotal figure throughout the game.

"The way Gordon played I think he deserved the man of the match. He had a big influence on the game kicking the goals and putting in the kick ahead for Chris Bell to score," Davies said.

"He had a big influence and I'm very proud of him."

Ross himself was just pleased to finally secure a win at English rugby's headquarters.

"It doesn't happen very often (for a Scot to win at Twickenham), but it was good fun in the first half and the forwards gave us a lot of quality ball," Ross said.

"Although Andre Snyman's try was an intercept, I felt we deserved a 10 point lead at half-time."